Ecomyths is a blog designed to help people think for themselves. Empirical data are contrasted with theories to examine axiomatic myths: ideas taken to be so well accepted that they don't need to be proven. It seeks to change ideas, correct fallacies and challenge dominant constructs by having people read, think and reflect for themselves about contemporary issues. Facts don't change your perspective. Your perspective changes your facts.

Monday, January 07, 2008

Mass media, mass conformity

We are awash with junk knowledge:

The hard reality is that if you want to understand anything -- the great currents of change at work on the planet or anything else for that matter -- you are going to have to invest time and energy in educating yourself on that subject. You are going to have to actively go looking for alternative sources of information, checking the provenance of sources, cross - checking for logical inconsistencies, vested interests etc. You are categorically not going to get it on a plate from the world's media.

Today's media is a loudhailer for politically correct mass hysteria and the witch hunts that follow in it its wake.

Two excellent illustrations are the posted exchanges in response to Tierney's query about weather alarmism and the continued efforts to pillory those who question climate dogma (which have prompted this response).

Still with climate orthodoxy, the refusal to allow for full disclosure and inclusion of perspectives at Bali and the continued absence of empirical data by advocates, are two more prominent examples of media conformity promoting a particular dogma.

The problem is, of course, rooted in the failings of contemporary education which promote:

conformity over individual thought

compliance over creative expression

test scores for the memorization of knowledge over the evaluation of creative application of learning

As Kierkegaard remarked: People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.

About Me

Dr. L. Graham Smith has over thirty years experience as a researcher, teacher and consultant in resources management. The author of over 70 publications, his writings successfully balance academic and practical considerations and provide a systematic framework for empowering change. His areas of expertise include: environmental ideology; globalization; the dynamics of change; the design and implementation of strategic planning processes; sustainability and its implementation; individual and institutional capacity building; educational praxis and, skills development.

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Sustainability

Sustainability is the capacity of a system to engage in the complexities of continuous improvement consistent with deep values of human purpose. Fullan (2005)

Dynamism is Freedom

Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. Heinlein

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All you need is love

The more you love, the more you can love--and the more intensely you love. Nor is there any limit on how many you can love. If a person had time enough, he could love all of that majority who are decent and just. Heinlein.